I was wondering if anyone had experience with, or good ideas for, what to bring to the hospital for 3.5 yo dd to keep her (and her support folks, DP's dad and stepmom) entertained should the labor be long and boring. Here is what we were thinking:

I'm just planning on bringing about 3 - 4 wrapped toys to the BC for DS to open and play with. Not to mention that his birth is Dec 04 and this baby is due Dec 12. So he will have a lot of new birthday toys to play with. I really plan to have a whole bin full of toys in addition to the wrapped ones. That way DH can go down to the car and swap toys if DS gets bored. We plan to let him unwrap a new toy every couple hours or so to make them last through the whole labor / pp stay.

My 20 month dd likes the drawing pads that are like an etch a sketch, you know with the magnetic 'ink' that comes to the surface...with the drawing pad the 'pen' or wand brings it to the surface. She can clean the board by herself and loves it. (Easier than crayons or markers)

I would pack some old toys maybe ones your child has not played with in a while, dd loves it when she comes across an old toy that she has missed. They are easier than new toys cause there is no explaining to do and frustration in learning a new activity, while mom and dad are busy...

My 20 month dd likes the drawing pads that are like an etch a sketch, you know with the magnetic 'ink' that comes to the surface...with the drawing pad the 'pen' or wand brings it to the surface. She can clean the board by herself and loves it. (Easier than crayons or markers)

Generically called Magnadoodle (sp?), which is the actually brand name, but there are off brands. We got one of these for DS for Christmas or his B-day. It is a magnadoodle / dry eraser board. So you can draw and color on the board. It's pretty cool. DS loves Magnadoodles, so I know he will love this.

you are aloud to have your child with you at a hospital birth?? i hadnt started thinking that far ahead yet but it haddent occured to me that it was a possiblity. Do most hospitals alow this?? i know our hospital only alows you to have 2 people with you so if i brought my oldest daughter then my husband or one of my support people would be taking care of her. but i like the idea of my daughter being a part of it.

We packed a ton of stuff, then ended up not using most of it. The birth center I go to has a family room with a tv/videos and toys. So they played with the toys that were there, watched some movies, and hubby took them to mcdonalds for lunch before my labor was too active. Later, they ran home to check on the dog, and they got back right when I was getting really active. By the time I got in the tub, both kids were content to stand by the tub and watch.
We had to take them with us, as we were new here and knew NO ONE, so had no babysitter, no family.

The one thing we packed that entertained them the most? Snacks! LOL snacky goodies that I never allow them to have and juice boxes!

Stayathomemommy -- yup, we are allowed to have siblings at birth at our hospital (we did have to take dd to a "sibling at birth" training session where she got a tour and watched a video, etc.). The door signs at our hospital do say "limit two visitors" but I guess I consider my DP, doula, DD and her two support persons NOT to be visitors but participants! Further, I know that at least two other hospitals in our city allow sibs at birth...